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Dr. Mica Endsley, chief scientist of the Air Force, works to combat cyber concerns. "I would prioritize defense of our computer systems to be probably among the highest priorities that we have today," she tells Federal News Radio's Agency of the Month radio show.

For now, push-ups and math scores are the main methods the Army uses to screen potential recruits. But officials say they are studying measures that take a "whole person" approach identifying future soldiers.

Agencies are struggling to fill gaps in their succession-planning efforts, according to a new survey. Many of the HR professionals surveyed said their agencies aren't planning to invest in key succession-planning initiatives. And even where they are taking action, too many agency managers are taking a piecemeal, "siloed" approach, according to experts.

Weakness in the private-sector economy has let the Pentagon spend fewer dollars on recruiting efforts over the past several years. It still beat its targets for both the quantity and quality of new enlistees and officers it brings into its ranks. But officials believe things could get more difficult.

The Office of Personnel Management is helping agencies come up with ways to recruit new federal hires from the pipeline of national-service programs, such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. In July, President Barack Obama called for expanding national volunteer opportunities by finding ways to connect the broad network of national and community-service organizations with federal agencies and their missions. As part of that effort, OPM was tasked with coming up with recruiting strategies agencies can use to recruit new hires with past experience in national-service programs.

As with overall federal-employee satisfaction
scores, the Human Capital Assessment and
Accountability Framework Index trended downward
in 2012. Habitual high-scorers, such as NASA and
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, continued to
sit atop the list. But the report also singled
out the Office of Management and Budget and for its
notable
improvements.

Budget constraints are top of mind for agency
chief human capital officers. And with good
reason. CHCOs say they are feeling the effects
of the budget crunch, particularly in
recruiting, retaining and training employees,
according to a Federal News Radio survey. Eugene
Hubbard, head of the National Science
Foundation's Office of Information and Resource
Management, told Federal News Radio the budget
squeeze and shrinking workforces mean agency
employees are doing more with less to keep pace
with the mission.